Mistakes all round in tickets row: FIFA

Mistakes all round in tickets row: FIFA

SEOUL: Mistakes were made all round with World Cup ticket arrangements from setting South Korean prices too high to over- estimating the number of foreign fans who would travel to the first finals in Asia, FIFA said on Thursday.

Seeking to put to rest what has been the biggest off-field controversy of the Cup, FIFA secretary general Michel Zen- Ruffinen took a swipe at Japanese and South Korean politicians for inflaming the ticket issue.

But with the first round ending on Friday, Zen-Ruffinen predicted fan complaints would die out in the second round.

"Ticket problems have now hopefully been resolved," Zen- Ruffinen told a news conference, adding that France in 1998 had not been immune from ticketing problems.

"Every report we have now is that for the next round it is working perfectly," he said.

In the opening days of this year's finals, there was concern that a television backdrop of empty seats would send the wrong signal to advertisers and damage the image of the first World Cup to be co-hosted. -- Reuters